Changing the world through Innocent Eyes

Young Samburu girl in the African village of NuguroroPhoto by
David Noyes

If you are one of those fortunate people with the means to travel a lot, you may eventually lose interest in standard modes like two-week beach vacations, museums and trips to amusement parks.

Award-winning photojournalist David Noyes is one of those people.

Throughout his travels, Noyes photographed the children he was meeting and came to realize a simple truth: It is impossible to travel to remote corners of the developing world and not be touched by the innocent eyes of a young child. Hence the name of his new non-profit initiative called the Innocent Eyes Project.

It had become clear to Noyes that the elders and guides he asked were right: The only way to make a lasting difference in the world’s poorest communities is to educate the children. The Innocent Eyes Project board has selected and committed 2014 funding to five program partners working in Kenya, Tanzania, Guatemala and Nicaragua. (The project became a registered tax-exempt charitable organization in the U.S. last August).

To increase fundraising, Noyes now organizes photo safaris. From Oct. 2-11, he will lead a luxury wildlife safari to Tanzania to chase the Great Migration in the plains of the northern Serengeti. Clients on this unique journey will also visit primary schools and orphanages, tribal villages of the Maasai, Datoga, and Hadzabe Bushmen (one of the last hunter-gather groups in Africa).

For those whose pockets aren’t so deep, Noyes will soon be launching the “Opening Eyes Project” for student photographers to learn and copy what he does. This new endeavour will teach students we live in a connected world and their actions and imagery can have a direct impact on local communities, both at home and abroad.

This immersive college-based photography program will start June 2015 with a trip to South Africa. The course will also teach students how to raise funds in their own community and market their own work, and may include scholarships if commercial support is found.

To learn more about how you can support the Innocent Eyes Project or travel with them, email info@innocenteyesproject.org or visit innocenteyesproject.org

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